This invention relates generally to electrical testing devices and more particularly to a new and novel testing device for electrically analyzing electrical failures in high pressure sodium lighting fixtures.
High pressure sodium lighting fixtures of the type for which the Applicants' device is designed frequently fail in operation after many hours of use. Failures result either from a defective lamp, a defective starter circuit, defective ballast and capacitor in the fixture. In detecting which of the above caused the fixture to fail, it is often necessary to first change the lamp to see if the lamp was defective and if not, then the entire fixture must be taken down and put on a work bench in order to analyze whether a defective circuit starter board is the trouble or a defective ballast and capacitor.
Such procedures are time consuming and costly because of the size of the high pressure sodium lighting fixtures and the height which they are mounted above the work service. Prior art high pressure sodium ballast testers are manufactured having only two indicating lamps to show adequate pulse voltage by the use of a pulsating on-off lamp and also to show when an open circuit voltage is adequate. These testers are limited in their operating range and can be used only on certain specified circuit types or else the tester will become inoperative by being overloaded. By the use of the Applicants' novel circuitry, his testing device has a much broader range of applications and is not so limited as the prior art devices. The Applicants' device may be used in high pressure sodium fixtures having any input voltage and wattages of 50 W, 70 W, 100 W, 150 W, 250 W, 400 W, 1000 W and any wattage in between these.